


Happiness in Grey

by Sugar_and_Salt



Series: Exo Fairytales~ [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fantasy, M/M, Romance, alternative universe, fairytale, slightly dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-21 10:52:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6048753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugar_and_Salt/pseuds/Sugar_and_Salt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sehun was as free and happy as he could be. <br/>Sitting in his comfortable cage, left to watch the colorful outside world. <br/>What a pretty world. <br/>And what a pretty boy in that cage over there...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happiness in Grey

_"In a pet shop where life has a price tag_   
_We pick up and hold that lonely cat to our chests_   
_It's like buying and selling a life for profit_   
_Oh, what's that called again?_   
  
_I'm too tired to remember the word..."_   
_"Holy Forest" by Sekai no Owari_

* * *

 

 

Sehun was a happy, young man.  
He was happy because he was free. And everyone wanted to be free, right?  
Today, as well, he woke up to a sizzling green sun. He stood up to stretch his limbs. To be honest, they were always a little sore after sleeping curled together like a cat. But Sehun was pretty tall and the cage he was sitting in was a bit too small for his long legs.  
A cage, you ask? Why yes, Sehun lived in a cage.  
Golden, curly strands of metal that met each other in an elegant knot on top. It was hanging from the ceiling instead of simply standing so sometimes a breeze would sway it. Sehun had never seen the ceiling before but judging by the heights of the other cages it must be far away.  
What, a sun and a ceiling don't go well together?  
Sehun didn't like to think about things like that - thinking too much made him tired.  
Like everyday he looked outside, counted the other cages he could see until they disappeared into the dust. There were many individual cages, each inhibiting something worthy of protection. Sehun was a unique person and unique persons ought to be safe and free. There were also cages with butterflies or birds, those with plants and a few empty ones, leaving Sehun to wonder whether he couldn't see what lay inside. Maybe it was a tiny bug.  
Unlike the butterflies, his cage was very close to the ground. He actually thought that if he stood in the colorful sand, he'd be able to look inside his cage. Of course he didn't want to be outside. There were people outside and once in a while they would check up on them.   
They were probably humans too, even though it was hard to tell with their uniforms and masks on.  
But they all looked the same and therefore obviously weren't worth to be free anyway.  
They couldn't be as happy as him, so he didn't want to belong to them.  
  
Yes, Sehun lived a happy life. All day long he marveled at the colorful world outside his cage.  
The pink butterflies, the blue sand and other cages twinkling in all colors of the rainbow.  
All the while he was safe and free, for Sehun belonged to no one but himself.  
Everyone he could see shared this feeling of bliss.  
The yellow cat nearby was dozing peacefully, no owner forcing it to follow his bidding. The red mice were running around merrily, no one threatening to hunt them.  
But his very favorite cage was the one containing that boy Sehun really liked to watch.  
He was just very interesting, different from the rest.  
He wasn't good at estimating distances but from where he was, he could see him very well.  
Whether the boy was wide awake or tired, Sehun was able to see it in his eyes; that's how close he was.  
  
Now you may wonder what was so interesting about that boy.   
Of course he looked different because he, too, was a unique person. And Sehun quite liked this visual difference. He looked a little less scrawny than him and even though he wasn't too sure what his own face looked like, he was very sure this boy's face looked prettier. His skin looked very soft and he had round, big eyes that were sparkling in all the colors. A pair of funny-looking big ears and curly hair.  
Completely different from Sehun, at least as far as his fingers could confirm it.  
His face felt much more sharp, his lips thinner, eyebrows more poignant and overall different. Everything about them was different. But the most intriguing thing about him was that he wasn't very happy. There were days when he would smile, especially when he noticed Sehun being awake. It was odd that this fact made the boy happy since it technically didn't make a difference to him. Another thing that was hard to understand for Sehun.  
Just like he didn't understand the reason for his frowns, tears or anger. The boy held a lot of complicated emotions Sehun himself was a little too tired to feel. But watching them play on his face was entirely fascinating, a break from his routine. While everything remained the same, everyday, he could never truly predict what this boy was going to do.  
Today, as well, the boy noticed him and smiled. He even waved a little.  
Only through his fingers brushing against his face did Sehun notice that he was smiling as well.  
He truly didn't know why the boy was so unhappy.  
He was healthy, alive and free. What else could he possibly yearn for?  
Yet he watched him scratch at the glass walls, fumbling with the metal and hitting against the top of his cage. But soon he'd become tired and curl together, he always did. It was a small miracle to Sehun how he could be so persistent. Whatever he was trying to accomplish, if he felt as tired as Sehun did, it was admirable that he was even trying so hard.  
  
It was a day like any other for Sehun when he succeeded and turned the day in an extraordinary one.  
The boy was tending to his favorite routine -pulling at the top of his cage-, while Sehun was following his' - watching him with his head tilted in curiosity.  
He couldn't help wondering why he would pull at the top of his cage, of all places, looking at the one of his own cage. It was the place where some mechanism let in his air and even though it was dusty, it was still air. Why would he want to ruin that?  
On this particular day his efforts showed for the first time. And what a violent first result it was.  
Something seemed to come loose and soon the whole cage was crashing to the ground, the glass between the bars breaking in a thousand sharp shards. Sehun was so shocked, he sent his own cage swaying as he jumped. He leaned against the glass to examine him with worry in his eyes but the boy appeared to be fine.  
More than that, even. When their eyes met, he was laughing.  
Sehun didn't understand any of it.  
He should be really sad - now that he wasn't free anymore. Besides that there was colorful liquid everywhere; he had probably cut himself at the glass shards.  
The boy suddenly perked up and looked around.  
With a last conspiratorial look and a grin thrown his way he disappeared into the fog.  
He had left.  
For some reason this made him really sad.  
And no matter how much his head ached and how tired he got from thinking so much, sleep didn't come to him that day.  
Sehun still felt a little unhappy throughout the next days.  
Maybe the boy had been sick and infected him when he left. Now he wasn't always smiling anymore.  
He really believed that for the reappearance of the boy made him smile a lot, more so than usual. Maybe he really was getting all these complicated emotions.  
Whether this was a good or bad thing he didn't know but he found himself jumping to his feet to meet him either way. Now that the boy wasn't free anymore he could just stand in front of Sehun's cage. Sehun sat up on his knees and scooted over to the glass separating them. They'd never been this close and he looked even more interesting up close.  
With an inviting smile, the boy placed his hand on the glass. It looked a little funny where his red skin was pressed against the flat surface and Sehun instinctively mirrored his action, placing his hand over his'. He was curios, oh so curios. And true to his assumptions, their hands were vastly different. His hand looked so bony in comparison. But his fingers were longer.  
They stayed like this until the boy sneaked away, hiding from the people who all looked the same.  
Sehun spent that day looking at his own hand, trying to memorize the way the boy's hand had looked against it. The boy had gestured him to follow, but Sehun wasn't too sure whether he wanted that. That is, he did want it, in a way. Wanted to keep looking at him. Now that he couldn't pull at the cage anymore, what would he do all day long? Sehun wanted to know that.  
To be very honest he was just a little afraid.   
Afraid the boy would be disappointed. After all, Sehun wasn't nearly as beautiful as him. The boy was colorful, like the world.  
While he...  
He looked down at his pale, white fingers and thought of his ebony-colored hair. He may be unique, yes, but would he like it? In comparison he felt much less vibrant and interesting than that boy.  
The next days he didn't only smile less, no, even the occasional frown made it to his face. He didn't know whether it was called being angry or sad. All he knew was that a growing feeling of discontent was weighing him down.  
Nothing seemed able to change that... until the boy returned once more and he felt it dissipate in a mere second.  
How very strange.  
  
This time around he didn't place his hand on the glass. Instead he brushed his lips against it. Just very lightly and slowly, giving Sehun time to admire the way his lips looked. He shot him another grin, though it looked a little different from usual, more careful. Sehun mirrored the expression, hoping he'd repeat the action. When he didn't, he tapped one of his fingers against the glass, hope reflecting in his eyes. The boy understood and leaned in again. Sehun didn't move his finger, astounded at the proximity. Noticing this, the boy withdrew with a funny expression but he guessed it was a good way of funny.  
It looked like happiness embracing sadness, in a good way.  
Again he made this 'follow me' gesture and again Sehun hesitated. He really didn't want to disappoint him and so he shook his head very lightly. The glowing smile slowly vanished from his face and it made Sehun feel sad, too. It really was weird, as if they were sharing some sort of connection and their emotions were intertwined.  
Which of course wasn't possible. Sehun's emotions belonged to no one but himself.  
That much he knew. So when the boy reacted with a sad nod of understanding and turned away, Sehun felt a pang of fear and it was most definitely his own decision to rush forward and hit the glass with all his weight. Unlike the boy he had no difficulty crashing through it and for a second the whole world turned into a blur of colors as he fell out of his cage and into the half-raised arms of the shocked boy, tackling him to the ground.  
When he opened his eyes, the world was different. Glass shards covered both him and the boy. They were of the colors he knew so well; vibrant shades of red, green, yellow, blue, magenta and orange. But the world... the world was nothing but grey. Gone were the vivid colors and when his eyes traveled towards the ceiling he realized that only the glass in between the cage bars was colorful.  
The world itself wasn't. Not colorful, not happy.  
Everything was grey and dead. Everything except for the boy. His hair was brown and warm, his skin more bronzed than his' and those eyes he had kept seeing in many colors were of a clear, equally warm brown. Very different. But then again, everything about him was different. And Sehun quite liked them. He felt that he would have probably loved them even if they'd happen to be grey.  
  
When they set out into the vast, grey world Sehun was really, really scared.   
Anyone could be out to get him. He wasn't free anymore.   
Actually he had already given away a part of him to the boy who was called Chanyeol.   
What exactly that meant, he would only know when the fog was gone.  
  
Now that the happy world that had been offered to him through the glass was gone, Sehun had to search for the colors himself.   
And while the world was all grey, he and Chanyeol definitely weren't.  
It all sounded complicated, really, but Sehun decided that these thoughts could wait.  
For now he was content being happy, their fingers firmly intertwined.  
Not being free felt surprisingly good.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~  
> This little something is inspired by Sekai no Owari's 'Holy Forest', a song so amazing that I never seem to run out of love and inspiration listening to it.  
> (You can listen to it here:  
> http://www.mp3lio.net/mp3/SEKAI+NO+OWARI+-+Holy+Forest+-remixed+by+melodysheep- )  
> The lyrics are actually extremely stark so if you have trouble understanding this, those lyrics might help in making up your own interpretation.  
> Of course you can feel free to ask me, too!  
> I'd love to clear up any symbolism that didn't came across too well.
> 
> Love,  
> Sugar_and_Salt


End file.
